the unsung heroines of sports history

Fanny Bullock was an
American geographer, cartographer, explorer, travel writer, and
mountaineer, notably in the Himalayas. She was one of the first female
professional mountaineers; she not only explored but also wrote about her
adventures. She set several women's altitude records, published eight
travel books with her husband, and championed women's rights and women's
suffrage. Born to a wealthy family, Workman was educated in the finest
schools available to women and traveled in Europe. Her marriage to William
Hunter Workman cemented these advantages, and, after being introduced to
climbing in New Hampshire, Fanny Workman traveled the world with him. The
Workmans began their travels with bicycle tours of Switzerland, France,
Italy, Spain, Algeria and India. They cycled thousands of miles, sleeping
wherever they could find shelter. They wrote books about each trip and
Fanny frequently commented on the state of the lives of women that she saw.
At the end of their cycling trip through India, the couple escaped to the
Himalaya for the summer months, where they were introduced to climbing.
They returned to this then-unexplored region eight times over the next 14
years. Despite not having modern climbing equipment, the Workmans explored
several glaciers and reached the summit of several mountains, eventually
reaching 23,000 feet (7,000 m), a women's altitude record at the time. They
organized multiyear expeditions but struggled to remain on good terms with
the local labor force. Coming from a position of American privilege and
wealth, they failed to understand the position of the native workers and
had difficulty finding and negotiating for reliable porters. She was
recognized as one of the foremost climbers of her day. She demonstrated
that a woman could climb in high altitudes just as well as a man and helped
break down the gender barrier in mountaineering.#butchhistory